North Dakota MLO licensing requirements

North Dakota licenses mortgage loan originators under a dedicated chapter of its century code that we read directly, and its education requirements track the federal floor precisely on both ends of the license.

One regulator: the Department of Financial Institutions

The North Dakota Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), through its commissioner, licenses MLOs under North Dakota Century Code Chapter 13-10, “Mortgage Loan Originators.” North Dakota is a single-regulator state: there is no second agency by employer type. A related chapter, 13-04.1 (Money Brokers), explicitly exempts individuals already licensed as MLOs under chapter 13-10 from its own separate money-broker license, confirming the two chapters cover different activities.

Pre-licensure and continuing education both match the federal floor exactly

We fetched and read NDCC 13-10-06 directly: it sets pre-licensure education at “at least twenty hours,” with the same statutory breakdown used nationally (3 hours federal law, 3 hours ethics covering fraud, consumer protection and fair lending, 2 hours on nontraditional mortgage products), and states no North Dakota-specific hour add-on. NDCC 13-10-09 sets continuing education at “at least eight hours” annually with the matching 3 federal law, 2 ethics, 2 nontraditional-lending breakdown. NDCC 13-10-07 sets the passing score at not less than 75 percent, and allows an individual who fails three consecutive tests to retake after a six-month wait.

What stays routed, not hosted

NDCC 13-10-05(6) conditions license issuance on meeting “the net worth and surety bond requirements under section 13-10-13,” but the chapter text we read does not state a flat bond dollar figure, that detail sits in DFI rule. The published licensing matrix lists a figure, but we do not host a bond number we have not independently confirmed against a primary, dated DFI source. Check the current figure on the licensing matrix and DFI’s own mortgage loan originator page.

Sponsorship and next steps

A North Dakota MLO license stays inactive until an NMLS-registered employer sponsors it. See sponsorship explained for how that works, walk the full sequence with the state-steps wizard, or check the full cost picture with the cost breakdown tool.

Sources: North Dakota Century Code, Title 13, Chapter 13-10 (Mortgage Loan Originators), sections 13-10-01 through 13-10-13 (ndlegis.gov/cencode/t13c10.pdf), fetched and read directly 2026-07-29; North Dakota Century Code Chapter 13-04.1 (Money Brokers), section 13-04.1-02.1 (ndlegis.gov/cencode/t13c04-1.pdf), fetched and read directly 2026-07-29; North Dakota Department of Financial Institutions (dfi.nd.gov), identified 2026-07-29; fees and bond matrix: getlicensemap.com, reviewed 2026-07-29.